Genius Spielberg

L

LukeJ

Well-known member
I'm sure a lot of you have seen or heard about the fact that Spielberg had to film the first part of Jaws without a shark beause the big fake machine kept breaking. So in the opening sequence, when the skinny-dipping girl gets thrashed back and forth above the water. Then Jaws kind of drags her twenty feet over here in about two seconds, then thirty feet in another direction and she's still alive.

Here's my question, how did he do that? What kind of machine can whip a woman around like that under water? Without hurting her? So if anybody knows, please drop some knowledge.
 
It's been a while since I've studied Jaws, but I'm pretty sure it was stunt men below the water whipping her around and I'm pretty sure she did get hurt.

I think they talk about this on the documentary on the newest double-disc Jaws DVD.
 
I knew this very well at one time. I'm pretty sure they had a harness on the girl from the waist and around the legs. On the beach nearby they had a jeep and pully system. The water absorbed most of the shock when it would tug her. If you notice she's not going too terribly fast, but she's horrified as a person would be in that situation. I mean anything in the water seems fast. If you're going 25-30mph in a boat it feels like you're going 50-60 mph on land. Water and its inherent chaos creates that illusion.
 
So here's a question. If you were in Spielberg's place would you have used the same stunt even though it sounds dangerous to the actor? I wouldn't have. I'm a fan of the 'berg, but that sounds a little out there to me.
 
LukeJ said:
I'm sure a lot of you have seen or heard about the fact that Spielberg had to film the first part of Jaws without a shark beause the big fake machine kept breaking. So in the opening sequence, when the skinny-dipping girl gets thrashed back and forth above the water. Then Jaws kind of drags her twenty feet over here in about two seconds, then thirty feet in another direction and she's still alive.
Click to expand...

(Others have already answered the question part of LukeJ's post...)

The implication here seems to be that the lack of shots of the shark in the early part of the movie is due to a malfunctioning shark. As I understand it, there is no connection between the two (malfunctioning shark, no shots of shark). It has been well documented that Spielberg quite intentionally kept "teasing" the audience early in the movie, in order to maximize the effect of seeing the full shark later on. (This was an approach that the director of JAWS 2 would have done well to follow...) I highly recommend the special edition DVD of JAWS. You'll get answers to pretty much any question you might have about the movie--and then some! (The CLOSE ENCOUNTERS DVD also has a great documentary, if you're into Spielberg.)
 
People will die from time to time in stunt work, despite all the safety precautions, when the hammer comes down...It's risky stuff. I don't recall the stunt girl in Jaws getting injured but I do remember the harness and her insistance on a quick release mechanism so she could get out of a jam because the people pulling the ropes on the beach may not have been able to hear her should she have problems.
 
So was it a jeep on a pully? Or some people yanking her around? And how badly was she hurt? And did Speilberg create this because the shark was broke or because he wanted to tease? Seems there's lots of diff opinions and everybody sounds so sure of themself.
 
So was it a jeep on a pully? Or some people yanking her around? And how badly was she hurt? And did Speilberg create this because the shark was broke or because he wanted to tease? Seems there's lots of diff opinions and everybody sounds so sure of themself.
Click to expand...

Watch the documentary on the DVD and you'll find out for yourself.
 
The Machinist said:
Watch the documentary on the DVD and you'll find out for yourself.
Click to expand...

The Machinist gets risiduals for his turn as Capt. Quint. So if you buy the DVD you're helping him out.:dankk2:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top